6 action items to execute in December

What are some tasks that merit attention for communicators here at the end of the year?

1. Take stock of a wild year.

Jim Ylisela, Ragan Consulting Group, suggests that you look back at the year and tell the story of everything that’s transpired and all the work that has been done. “We shouldn’t forget this stuff,” he says. “It’s a great time to chronicle or gather this information and publish it in some way.”

2. Plan for more thought leadership.

How are you going to get more visibility for your top execs? “This a great time to put a plan together for more thought leadership,” Ylisela says, whether that’s video, op-eds, LinkedIn posts or internal messages. “You’ve got to get leaders out there, and you must have a plan.”

3. Measure.

Ylisela always advocates that you take stock with some baseline measurement this time of year, but with all the change of 2020, he argues this is even more important right now.

“It’s time to do some kind of baseline measurement of where we are and where we want to go,” he says. “So many things have changed…what has that done to communication? How are people feeling about the tools that we use?”

4. Codify what you can stop doing.